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He kissed her.
And he did not need some work on his kissing. Renata’s mouth fell open in shock and he took advantage, slipping his tongue between her hopefully smudge-proof lips. She clutched his broad shoulders as he caressed her mouth with his, gently nibbling and sucking at her lips.
Renata had never been kissed like this, with passion and lust but tenderness, too. Her previous boyfriends had been younger than Giorgio, in their early or mid-twenties, and had either been tentative in their kisses or overly aggressive, mashing her lips as if to prove their desire. Now Giorgio was planting kisses across her jaw and holy crap—he licked her neck’s equivalent of a G-spot and she nearly screamed with pleasure.
His hot breath quickened against her skin and she knew he was as on fire as she was. “Mmm, Renata.” He lifted his head.
Renata’s eyes fluttered open when she realized he wasn’t kissing her anymore. “Wow.”
He wore a dazed look on his face, as well. At least she wasn’t the only one. She probably would have socked him if he’d been gloating. “I am sorry, Renata.”
“Sorry for kissing me?” She shoved him away and plopped her hands on her hips.
“Never. Sorry for pushing you against a tree and kissing you in public.” His lips were plump from kisses but her lipstick had lived up to its promise.
She wanted to taste his mouth again—hell, taste him all over. “You’d rather kiss me in private?” She traced her finger up his golden silk tie.
Giorgio caught her hand in his and pressed a kiss to the palm. “I would like nothing more.”
A handful of female runners clattered along the path next to them, all of them ogling Giorgio. He turned away, not wanting to be recognized.
He rubbed his face. “Much as I’d like to invite you to my suite at the Plaza—”
“You have a suite at the Plaza?” she interrupted. “Is it as fancy as in the movies? I’ve only been in the lobby once.”
“I don’t know about the movies, my rooms are very nice. But…”
“Too fast, isn’t it?” she asked ruefully. Despite her brassy attitude, Renata didn’t want to hop into bed with a guy an hour after she met him. Well, she did, but she wouldn’t.
He nodded solemnly. “Paolo hasn’t had time to do a background check on you.”
She squawked in indignation and socked him in the arm.
“Ow!” He clutched his arm and laughed. “Renata, I’m just kidding. It’s too fast because I want to get to know you better.”
“Good answer.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. And although she wanted Giorgio pretty badly, he came with miles and miles of strings attached—business, money and the fact that he had his own country. Maybe it would be best to leave it at a quick kiss. A hot, wet, tongue-tangling kiss on a romantic spring afternoon in the most romantic park in New York City.
Renata mentally slapped herself before she dragged Giorgio back behind that tree and did something to the man that started with public and ended with indecency. “What’s next?” It was a bigger question than it seemed.
He took her hand again. “What would a beautiful New Yorker like to do on an unexpected afternoon away from work?”
Renata spotted a white gleam from beyond the leafy green trees. “How about the real art museum?”
“Whatever you’d like.”
That wasn’t an option. She dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief. “How’s my lipstick?”
“Lovely.” He smiled down at her. “But I could make it smudge if I had enough time.”
“I bet you could,” she breathed. Darn it, he wasn’t making this easy for her. “Come on, let’s go.”
RENATA LED GIORGIO UP the marble steps to the main entrance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He gazed up at the impressive multi-story facade along Fifth Avenue. “Stefania and I came here at least once a month while she was growing up. I haven’t been since the cleaning and restoration several years ago. It’s quite a dramatic change.”
“The gray stone actually turned out to be white after all.” The tall marble columns with elaborately carved tops and arched high windows looked like a Greek temple—a temple of art. “Are you sure you don’t mind coming along for the historical costume exhibit? Most men aren’t terribly interested in women’s clothing—just how to undo them.” She felt a flush rise in her cheeks.
He laughed at her bluntness and held out his elbow for her to take. She accepted and they started to climb the steep stairs. “But I am terribly interested in women’s clothing. Didn’t I prove that by flying all the way to New York to look at wedding dresses?”
“It was very sweet of you to come.” She impulsively squeezed his upper arm. No give at all. His expensive Italian suit was covering an equally nice body.
“I try to do what Stefania tells me.” Giorgio smiled at her. “The children’s book where the brother and sister run away to live in this museum was her favorite as a girl. I was quite terrified she might try the same thing, so I brought her here whenever she asked me. If I couldn’t, then my friends Jack and Frank did.”
He held the door for Renata and they went to the ticket counter. “Two tickets for the museum and the costume exhibit,” she told the museum employee, reaching into her purse for the money.
Giorgio put his hand over hers. “My treat, I insist.” He reached for his slim wallet tucked into his jacket pocket.
“No, no, you’re my guest.” She went for her purse again.
“No.” He gave a credit card to the employee who hastily swiped it through the reader before they could cause any more delay in her line.
Renata clamped her lips together and accepted her ticket. They went into the museum foyer and she pulled him aside. “Look, just because you are a prince and all doesn’t mean I can’t afford to pay for museum tickets.”
He gave her a considering look. “You think I paid because I have much more money than you?”
“Yes.”
“No.” He took her hand. “I would pay for your ticket with the last money I owned because I’m a man and you’re a beautiful woman who makes me laugh and enjoy myself. Unfortunately, that is a rare occurence for me.”
“Oh, please.” She made a dismissive gesture with her free hand.
“No, thank you.” He caught her other hand. “I know I’ve had many advantages in my life, but free time isn’t one of them.”
“Same here.” She squeezed his hands. He had said she was beautiful, so she’d cut him some slack. Well, a lot of slack.
“Let’s not waste any of our precious time. Shall we go to the costume exhibit?”
“Absolutely. Then we can see whatever you’d like,” she offered.
He offered her his arm again, and they followed the signs to the gallery. “I’ve already seen most of the regular collection, so your special exhibit sounds just fine.”
“How about the arms and armor collection? Men always like that.”
He sniffed disdainfully. “We have a much better collection at home.”
“What? Better than the museum?”
“I’m just kidding.” He nudged her playfully and she snorted.
“But you do have some arms and armor at your house.”
“At the local museum,” he clarified. “But the armor used to be at my house.”
“You got tired of peasants wandering through looking at it?”
“If all peasants were as lovely as you, I would have no problem with that.” She raised her eyebrows. “I’m only joking, Renata. I’m priviledged to serve my people, not the other way around.”
“All right, then.” She let him off the hook. For a prince, he wasn’t very arrogant. Not that she knew very many. Or any.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pointed to the gallery entrance. “Here we are.”
Renata gave a gasp as she and Giorgio entered the darkened, dramatically lit hall. “Now this is what I call a real art exhibit.” Strategically placed spotlights illuminated mannequins in elegant 1890’s ballgowns.
“Very elegant,” Giorgio agreed. “And little danger of tetanus.”
Renata went as close to the mannequins as she could without getting tossed out of the museum and peered at the fine details of the gowns. They were satin, velvet and silk. The silhouette was a tight bodice flowing out to a small bustle and then fabric draping down to the floor in a small train. The embroidery was elaborately done with crystals, pearls and jet accents. Butterflies and flowers, swirls and loops. “Maybe I haven’t been taking enough advantage of Aunt Barbara’s skills. She could do this in her sleep.”
“The lady who is going to embroider Stefania and Dieter’s initials on her, um, underskirt?”
Renata laughed. Typical brother. “That’s her. She’ll be disappointed she missed you.” The overwhelming under-statement of the century. A real live prince and princess came to out-of-the-way Peacock Designs and Aunt Barbara was sitting in the gastroenterologist’s waiting room. She’d at least get to meet Stefania when she came for her fittings.
The next rooms had sports clothing, a revolutionary idea in the late nineteenth century. Although playing tennis in a floor-length dress or riding a bicycle in a wool skirt and suitjacket didn’t appeal to Renata, she saw the historical importance of the broadening of women’s activities.
Ah, more ball gowns, but this time they were a flowing, turn-of-the-century style with Asian-influenced fasteners and draping tunic silhouettes. Another set of new ideas for her.
“Art Nouveau, one of my favourite eras.” Giorgio gazed at the Tiffany stained-glass windows and classic Italian opera posters.
“Oh, my God, me, too! I just love Gustav Klimt’s painting with the man and woman embracing surrounded by all that gold and jewel tones.”
“The Kiss.” His gaze dropped to her lips.
She licked her mouth, suddenly dry. “Yes, it’s called The Kiss.”
“Have you been to Vienna to see it?” he asked.
She laughed and the spell was broken—at least temporarily. “No, I haven’t made it to Vienna yet.” Or anywhere east of the Atlantic Ocean.
“You should go.”
With what money? She caught his hand and pulled him along. He was a sweet guy, but there was a world of difference—and money—between them. “Maybe someday. Oh, look at the suffragettes’ uniforms. Very masculine.”
Giorgio stood patiently next to her, not fidgeting a bit or checking his phone as she examined the clothing in the remaining rooms. She wished she could take photos, but the light was too low to get any of the details. They exited into a gift shop with several reproduction jewelry items and books on art and fashion of the time period covered.
Giorgio picked up the hardcover, full-color photo book that accompanied the exhibit. “Would you allow me to buy you a small gift, a souvenir of our afternoon together?”
“That book’s not exactly small.” But she was dying to get her hands on it, especially to look at the beading and embroidery in close detail.
“I’ll carry it for you if it’s too heavy.” His green eyes twinkled.
She paused for a second and then decided her self-reliance could take a backseat to graciousness for once. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”
Giorgio seemed surprised, as if he’d expected her to tussle with him over it. “You’re welcome.” He hastened to the cash register to pay for it before she changed her mind, probably.
Renata busied herself by examining the jewelry. It was a bit elaborate for her tastes, with filigree and crystals and jet beads galore. Aunt Barbara would love it.
“Do you see anything you like here?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I was just thinking my aunt would like some of this. She likes more…elaborate things than I do.”
He eyed her up and down. “A woman who looks like a forties’ movie star doesn’t think that counts as elaborate?”
“I suppose silk stockings with seams up the back can’t be considered plain.”
“Not at all.” His voice sounded husky for a second. “But authentic, right?”
“Absolutely.” Renata had to clear her own throat. “Maybe I’ll bring Aunt Barbara to see the exhibit. I’ve encouraged her to branch out a bit with some designs of her own.”
“With you as her mentor, I’m sure it would be a success.”
“That’s kind of you.”
Giorgio shrugged. “Only the truth. You’re a self-made woman, whereas I’m the royal caretaker, making sure everything stays intact for the next generation.” He sounded a bit dejected.
“But that’s important, too. You have thousands of families depending on you to make sure everything runs smoothly, that parents can give their children the opportunities to succeed that they might not have had themselves.”
He grinned. “You’ve very smart, you know that?”
“Of course. And now, if you’ll call for that slick car of yours we can tour around for a bit before you meet your sister for dinner.”
He immediately texted his driver who showed up in an impossibly short period of time. Giorgio helped her into the limo. “Drive downtown, Paolo.”
Paolo nodded and they slid away from the curb. Renata settled back into the luxurious seats. She didn’t know where the royal ride was going, but she was sure it would be memorable.
“THANK YOU FOR DINNER, Renata.” Giorgio relaxed back into the limo seat. “I have to admit I am not used to ladies paying for me.”
“Don’t be silly, it was just a chili dog,” she chided him. She hadn’t been in a limo since one of her brothers’ weddings, and this was much nicer than being stuffed into the back with several giddy bridesmaids in poufy dresses. “I’ll add it onto the alterations bill for your sister’s dress if you insist.”
He leaned toward her. “I do.”
Stefania had called to cancel dinner since she had a term paper due soon and her fiancé was fogged in at Heathrow airport anyway.
Giorgio had called his driver to come get them and they had cruised the city as best as they could with a giant limo. But it was getting late, and Renata had reluctantly told Giorgio to head for Brooklyn.
“Tell me when you are free again.” Giorgio twined his fingers between hers.
“Free for what?”
“Free to see me again. I’ll take you to the Plaza for dinner.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “Only if they serve chili dogs.”
